Panic in Rivers as gunmen kill 14

More than 14 people were feared dead and many others injured yesterday in Sime community, a suburb of Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State after unknown gunmen invaded the area. Six people were also reportedly abducted in Andoni Local Government Area of the state. Many people were said to have sustained various degrees of injuries during the operation that crippled the area. The invaded Sime community is the hometown of the People Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant, Hon. Jacobson Mbina who had raised alarm recently over security in the area.

The Nation gathered that unknown gunmen invaded the Ogoni community, shooting sporadically and at the end left 14 people dead and several others with bullet wounds. An eyewitness within the who simply gives his name as Friday said the remains of the victims had been deposited at mortuary. He said the unknown gunmen invaded the houses of their targets, shot them and operated for hours before fleeing the scene. Friday said: “This is what happened this evening. Some unknown gunmen entered the community and started shooting and people were running from one direction to another.

It was after the shooting had ended that we got to know that about 14 people had been murdered. “Many people sustained bullet wounds during the attack. The people are living in anxiety. This is not the first time this evil men are killing people in Ogoni land.” The National Coordinator Ogoni Solidarity Forum (OSF) Comrade Celestine AkpoBari, said OSF and the entire Ogoni people have condemned the incessant killings taking place in the area and other parts of Rivers State.

He called on the Rivers State government to protect the lives of Ogoni people and that of the people of Rivers State, adding that residents of the state are no longer comfortable with the way people were being slaughtered like animals. AkpoBari said: “We are not happy and Rivers people are not happy that we wake up in the morning on daily basis hearing one killing or the other. These people are human beings. They are not goatS or chickens. The government must be proactive on the issue of security to life.

We will continue to condemn what is happening in Ogoni land. Ogoni people cannot run away from their land. But it is time to come together for the peace and progress of the area. Those who are killing should know that some day, they would be killed by someone.

A source in Andoni Local Government Area where no fewer than six people were reportedly by unknown gunmen said the abductors rode on two gunboats and seven speedboats and raided a fishing settlement in Asaramatoru area and escaped with six of their targets. The source said that the gunman left an unconfirmed number of casualties during the attack. Efforts to speak with the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer , Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) was not successful as he did not pick his calls nor respond to a text message sent to his gsm line.